LAS VEGAS ? Three days before the fight, Manny Pacquiao is cutting back on everything ? except his will to win.
?I?m ready to go,? Pacquiao declared Tuesday, a light and easy day at the office as compared the last 50 days or so.
Pacquiao went out first thing in the morning, and took a 30-minute run inside the UNLV campus. Gone were the days he?d climb the mountains in LA, those days like he was training for a marathon.
At the IBA Gym somewhere in Vegas, workload is getting lighter, too. He worked the mitts with Freddie Roach for only six rounds, not the 16 or 20 which they normally did back at the Wild Card Gym.
Nothing more than a few minutes with the rope, and shadow boxing make up his day at the gym, work that should go on only until Thursday, the day before the fighters tip the scales for the final weigh-in.
On Friday and Saturday, the day of the fight, all he?d be asked to do in the morning is probably take a short walk then rest the whole day in his spacious, elegant suite.
On the dining table, things are getting lighter, too. He still enjoys his meals, actually no need to skip one, yet, but he?s slowly cutting back. Tuesday he had little rice, adobo and tinola and fruits.
?But I still manage to eat. No need to skip meals,? he smiled.
?But the hardships will soon end,? he said. ?I?m ready to go. I?m ready to finish this unfinished business.?
Another press conference is scheduled Wednesday at the Foundation Room of Mandalay Bay. And once again, he?d come face to face with Juan Manuel Marquez, the champion.
